Ashes to Ashes
by Coraline15
Summary: Sora and his friends are sent to investigate an abandoned town shrouded in darkness. However, it may not be as abandoned as they had originally thought. (Suspense/Psychological)
1. Chapter 1

Ashes to Ashes

**_Disclaimers: All Kingdom Hearts characters are owned by Disney and Square Enix and are all copied without permission. I have made this story for fun and not profit._**

Writer's Note: This idea is another RP with one of my friends.. I have several friends that I do RPs with and I had wanted to make this RP into a story.. I apologize if the idea may seem unusual, but I still hope you enjoy it. (Rated for suspense)

Prologue

As they entered the main room of the Mysterious Tower, Sora and his friends readied themselves for whatever mission was in store for them.

The elderly man in a blue robe with a pointed hat adorning his head sat before them. His ancient eyes gazed upon those who had recently saved the worlds from Xehanort's mad scheme.

"Sora. Kairi. Riku. Lea." he greeted after a moment. "I appreciate you all coming on such short notice...especially considering recent events."

"We're here to help in any way we can," Sora smiled. "If we work together, I'm sure we can accomplish anything."

"What he said." Axel chimed in, stretching his slender arms out from behind his back. "'Sides, not like there's been much happening since the old coot passed on, so I could always use a little exercise to keep me in form."

Riku merely nodded with a slight hum on agreement.

"I am happy to hear that you are so willing to provide your aid despite previous circumstances." Yen Sid replied in gratitude. "I wish I did not need to call upon you so soon, but...a situation has arose."

"We will do what we can to help." Kairi assured, taking a step forward.

Sora nodded in agreement.

"As you are aware, ever since Xehanort and his machinations have been put to a halt, the world's have been at relative peace." The wizard began, his fingers stroking at his king beard. "However, worlds still remain that wane dangerously close to falling into darkness, and there are those who would happily exploit that darkness for their own gain...those such as Maleficent, and her cohort, Pete."

Riku's face slightly grimaced at the mention of the enchantress who had so easily led him astray and turned him against his friends. How blind he had been back then...

Kairi took noticed of this and gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

Riku visibly relaxed as Kairi placed a hand on his shoulder, turning and giving her a ghost of a smile. Sora soon took a step forward.

"Master Yen Sid, is there something we can do?"

Yen Sid nodded and once again began to speak.

"A world has recently revealed itself..." Yen Sid's began to explain, his eyes narrowing slightly. "One that's dangerously close to falling into darkness. Not much is currently known of this realm...but what is known that if left to its own devices, it will most certainly give the forces of evil a powerful advantage."

"Well, whatever this world throws at us," Sora started. "As long as we stick together, we can accomplish ANYTHING."

Everyone else soon nodded in agreement.

"Then, all that remains is your destination." The wizard replied.

He soon pushed a small Gummi block toward them on his desk.

"This Gummi will reveal the pathway to this world once installed into your ship. Now go; make haste before the worst comes to fruition."

Soda nodded as he took the block carefully, before turning to his friends.

"Alright then, let's go!"

Riku nodded with a slight smile, Axel doing the same and giving a thumbs up.

Everyone soon hurried off to the Gummi Ship and Sora moved over to the main control panel. Almost instantly, the panel lit up around the new Gummi piece and a light shot from the front of the ship, creating a massive portal that seemed to be emitting a strange type of fog or smoke.

Axel let out a short whistle at the strange abyss which opened up before then.

"Man, really looks like we're heading into the lion's den here, huh?" he commented.

Sora stared into the swirls of fog and smoke, feeling something wasn't right as he continued staring into the open gateway.

"Sora?"

Kairi's voice snapped Sora out of his thoughts.

"Huh?"

"Everything alright?" Kairi asked.

"I.. Yeah.." Sora muttered.

He turned to look back at the gateway.

Riku moved beside Sora, firmly clasping his friend's shoulder.

"Whatever's waiting for us on the other side, we'll face it and we'll win." He then summoned his Braveheart Keyblade, pointing it in the direction of the hole they were facing. "Together."

Sora looked up at him and soon smiled and nodded.

"Yeah."

He soon turned toward the gateway again and took hold of the controls.

"Let's go!"

He soon started working with the controls and soon they were ready to enter the gate. With the press of a button, the four friends took off into the portal before them.

Time seemed to fly by as they made their way to their destination. However, as they touched down at their destination, they were shocked to find the entire world around them was shrouded in a thick smoke or fog. They could barely see past a few feet in front of them.

All they could see, was a large, dilapidated white sign with a green border, with green lettering that read: **Welcome to Copperwood Harbor.**

**Author's Note: I know this may seem different than my other stories, but this is what had come to mind.. I will try to get more up soon..**


	2. Chapter 2

Part One

"Yyyeaaah, not the best welcome wagon, uh-uh. And I was in the Organization, for goodness' sake..." Axel said, not pulling out his Keyblade but still remaining cautious.

Sora took a slow and cautious step closer toward the sign, carefully placing his hand against the old and splintering wood.

"I know Master Yen Sid said there was darkness but.." he trailed off as he looked out toward the town.

Sora stepped away from the sign as he felt a chill go through him at the sound.. Or rather, the lack of.. There was no sound. It was completely silent.

"Not surprising, if I'm being honest. We all know the corrupting effects of darkness. It was all Maleficent and Xehanort needed to turn a radiant garden into a hollow bastion." Riku chimed in.

As Riku was speaking, Sora seemed to be fixated on something just beyond the smog. Kairi looked over at her friend, a bit concerned.

"Sora?"

As she followed his gaze, it wasn't long that she and the others realized what Sora was looking at.. There was a metallic object sticking out of the ground. It was another sign. However, this sign was painted yellow and black with an eerie symbol. Instinctively, Kairi took a step backward.

"Well, that's not creepy at all." said Axel sarcastically as he summoned his keyblade.

Riku soon did the same with Sora and Kairi following suit.

Sora slowly began to head farther into the ghostly looking town. All around them, many of the buildings seemed to have been left in disarray as if the citizens had left in a hurry. Sora glanced over at a nearby building, shocked to see it was mostly three out of four walls, as much of it had collapsed under its own weight. As he inched closer, he could see it had once been a small church. Sora's feet crunched in the rubble and debris as he made his way closer. He stopped a foot from one of the nearby benches, carefully reaching down to pick up a discarded book.

Sora turned to look at him.

"It's hard to read.." he replied, a bit surprised. "It's like.. It may be in another language."

He soon froze as he noticed something within the thick smog. It was a tall figure, but it was all he could really see. Its body was very slender and it almost seemed like it was dressed in black.

"Well, golly gee! A tall foreboding presence appears right as we step into town!" Axel exclaimed, taking a step forward and pointing his keyblade at the figure. "Don't suppose you'd have anything to do with this ghost town being caked in darkness, would you?"

As he stepped closer, the figure seemed to resemble someone he had not seen in what seemed like years.

"Axel.." said the Xion lookalike, blue eyes meeting his eyes. "You forgot me.. Why did you forget me?"

Axel's eyes widened at the sight of Xion, taking a step backwards as the arm pointing his keyblade towards her going slack. However, this shock quickly subsided to anger once it clicked in that this wasn't his friend, for she certainly wouldn't have held the events of what had passed against him. No, this was that thing...what had brought this town to ruin and destroyed these people's lives, and it was trying to do the same to him by wearing his friend's face.

"How dare you?" he asked in a low growl, flames beginning to circle around his blade, his emerald gaze burning with fury as he leapt forward to strike the abomination down. "HOW DARE YOU?!"

"Axel, wait!" Riku yelled with his hand outstretched, but it was too late, Axel already midair as he swung the Flame Liberator downward.

The being vanished within a cloud of smoky mist as he swung down to attack. Axel hurdled through the air for a brief moment after attempting and failing to strike the shadow before him, expertly tumbling along the ground before quickly getting back to his feet, putting his keyblade out in front of him in a defensive position. As Axel got to his feet, the mist took shape again. This time however, it was the enchantress Riku knew all too well.

"Why Riku, why do you not see the troubles they have caused? You had so much potential and yet you throw it away."

Riku's eyes narrowed as he summoned own weapon, moving his body into battle posture as he said,

"After everything I've done and fought for, I would be a fool to just wantonly let myself be swallowed by the darkness. And I certainly won't bow to the whims of a being that reeks of evil like you."

The being grinned cruelly.

"And do you think they could ever forget what you had done?" it said. "To them, you would only be seen as a traitor."

Riku stared at the creature and it's twisted smile for a moment, not making any sort of facial change as he said, "Really? Is that the best you can come up with? If so, than you don't know me at all. You're just taking whatever scraps of information you can get from our minds to piece together a narrative to try and tear us apart and bring us down.

"So since you're so ignorant on the matter, allow me to go into detail as to why your attempt to wrench at my heart falls so flat." He started to explain, clasping a hand against Sora's shoulder. "This guy right here...I worked directly with the enemy he was fighting against, mocked and humiliated him, turned his friends against him for a time, then caved in to the darkness and let it pour into my heart just for the chance to beat him once he gained the upper hand, allowing a madman to take over my body and cause even more damage to the universe. If anyone had a reason to hate and despise me, it was him.

"But do you know what he did? He scoured the worlds trying to find me so that he could get his friend back and bring me home, and fought alongside me as we dismantled Organization XIII...twice."

Sora was at a loss of words as he felt tears forming. However, he was smiling a wide and happy smile.

"I'd do anything to bring you back." he replied. "You're my best friend in the entire world.. You're like a brother to me."

Sora turned to look at the creature, which had changed forms again. This time as a swirling black mass of darkness. It however remained silent.

"Then there's Kairi." Riku continued, placing a hand on her shoulder now. "I did a lot of horrible things on my misguided attempts to being her back...took on the face of the one who had destroyed our world. But despite all of that, she welcomed and accepted me back with open arms...convinced me to stay when I tried to leave so we could all be reunited again."

Kairi in return hugged Riku tight.

"We're best friends.." she smiled, still hugging him. "Friends never leave each other behind."

"...So, I don't get a sappy friendship monologue?" Axel asked in a semi-joking manner, a playful frown on his face.

Riku turned to the redhead, a light smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "Would being someone who was a former enemy and then becoming our brother-in-arms against a common foe make you happy?"

Axel paused, tapping his chin in thought before a wide grin formed on his face.

"Eh, good enough!"

He then jumped high into the air, twirling forward a few times before landing back with his team, Keyblade at the ready.

"Are you starting to get it now? Our experiences and our battles have forged us like fire...such that even something like you can't break us apart...for the bonds we share are not frail like brittle, but strong as iron. So if you're looking to take us down, you need to rethink your strategy because you're fighting a losing battle!" Riku cried, readying his battle stance for the creature before him.

The being only looked at them, not amused or moved by Riku's speech. Within a split second, there was a blast of black and purple mist that shot forward, completely surrounding them. Sora clenched his eyes shut as he felt a sudden pressure a around his head and chest. As he opened his eyes, he could see nothing but darkness. Sora tried to call to his friends but he could not hear his own voice nor could he hear anything around him. It had gone completely silent. He willed himself to try and reach out for anyone or anything but he could not feel anything around him. Sora screamed for someone to help him but there was complete and utter silence. Then, almost within an instant, Sora opened his eyes and could feel the gravelly and sandy ground beneath him. Kairi was beside him, shaking him desperately.

**Author's Note: I apologize for taking so long, but I had been working on other stories and posting what chapters I can.. I will try to get more up soon..**


	3. Chapter 3

Part Two

"Sora! Sora wake UP!"

Sora was breathing heavily and was shaking. His throat felt raw from yelling and he winced.

"Are you okay?" asked Kairi.

Sora coughed and rubbed at his throat, wincing.

"It.. it was.. It was just.. Complete nothingness.."

Sora's voice seemed rather raspy and hoarse as he spoke.

Riku's eyes narrowed at what the creature had done, but didn't give any further headway.

"So, you do have more than one trick up your sleeve. I'm almost impressed. Why don't you try doing that to me and see what happens?" he dared.

The being rushed toward Riku, engulfing him in darkness. All around him, it was complete nothingness. It was pitch black. It seemed he may have gone completely blind and it was then evident that there was complete and total silence! There also seemed to nothing around him.. There was no sense of feeling nor was there any sensation of his body. It was as though he was nothing but a conciseness, floating endlessly within an endless nothingness.

As Riku was engulfed by the creature's essence, he underwent the same suffocation and blackout that Sora had, starting to become overwhelmed with feelings of solitude and despair. _'Ngh...Sora wasn't lying!'_ Riku thought to himself, cut off from anything and everything that could supply even the supply the slightest bit of comfort. _'Wh-what should I do? What can I...?'_

Suddenly, Riku's eyes widened, something important coming back to him. "I...remember..." He said softly. "I remember this feeling. Back at Castle Oblivion...I was cut off from everything after sealing the door to darkness, trapped and forced to face my own inner demons...but then King Mickey appeared for a moment to encourage me and keep me from giving up. I'll never forget what he told me in that moment..."

"Even in the darkest darkness, there's always a little bit of light."

In that moment, a shaft of light shot through Riku's soul, igniting his eyes with fire as feeling returned to his body, his keyblade appearing within his grip once more to slightly light up the abyss surrounding him.

"That's why you couldn't completely break Sora earlier, isn't it? Because despite how much darkness you try to drown us in, there will always be some light for us to hold onto. And you just picked a fight with the people that can let the rest in." A look of fierce determination replaced the overwhelmed panic from before, righteous fury filling his being as he raised his holy weapon. "Which is exactly what I'm going to do: consume the darkness and return it to light! Your downfall starts here!"

With an empowered battle cry, Riku swung downward, his keyblade effortlessly cutting through the abyss to let rays of warm comforting light through the seams. More light kept pouring in as it burned the surrounding darkness away like kindling to a flame.

There was a loud ear-splitting screech of as light overtook the darkness. As Riku broke through the dark nothingness, the creature staggered and seemed to be what was making the loud keening noise. It snarled at him, its dark and hollow eyes locking with his. The creature's voice was warped and had an impossibly deep bass tone to it.

"You are a nasty boy.." it snarled angrily.

"Takes one to know one." Riku retorted without skipping a beat, giving the creature a once over now that he was free of its control. "So, we finally meet face-to-face. We could have saved each other a whole lot of time if you had just skipped the cloak-and-dagger nonsense and just cut to the chase, you know that?"

Axel kept silent for a moment, a hard glare gracing his face as flames began to fume around his keyblade. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't burn you to a crisp right now."

The being turned toward Axel. However, instead of doing what it had to Sora and Riku, the being enveloped him, transforming into a thick and tar like substance that began to burn his skin. The tar began to spread across the ground and was beginning to over take Sora, Riku, and Kairi as well. Sora and Kairi struggled and as they looked up, the creature had vanished from sight. The tar, however, had not stopped spreading as it was now up to Axel's neck.

Axel cried out in pain as the being coated him in its tar-like form, gritting his teeth as he fell to his knees. "Let me guess...this is the part where I say uncle or cry for mommy, right...?!" He managed to say, Riku not wasting any time and casting Blizzaga to cool off his friend and damage the creature.

The tar froze almost instantly and solidified into a smoky color of ice. The pieces began to break away, the small chunks soon melting and transforming into an inky substance. The globules of the inky slime slowly began piecing itself back together and slithered through one of the small cracks within the earth around them.

"Yeah, that's right...you better run..." Axel weakly quipped as the creature was absorbed by the ground, toppling over as Riku rushed to his side.

"Axel?! Are you alright?!" Riku shouted, moving Axel onto his back as he rummaged through his pockets for a potion.

"Oh, yeah...I haven't felt this great since I got killed fighting all those dusks." The red-haired stated, attempting to laugh but succumbing to a coughing fit shortly after.

Sora and Kairi were at Axel's side. Sora tried to pull the rest of the tar off, taking in a sharp breath as the substance burned his hands. He however, refused to stop as the tarry mess was already starting to set and the sticky gunk wouldn't come off.

Kairi joined the attempts to get the substance off. Acting quickly, she summoned her Keyblade and cast a blizzarda spell to not only help get the stuff off, but to help ease Axel's pain.

"Hang on, Axel," she said gently. "It's going to be alright."

"Oh, I know that." Axel said with a pained smile despite the burning sensation he felt. "We've been through some harrowing stuff before, but things usually tend to pan out, y'know?"

Meanwhile, Riku had pulled a hi-potion out and popped off the cork, putting it to Axel's lips who drank it greedily.

Sora and Kairi we're finally able to get the stuff off and we're horrified to see the substance had burned through much of Axel's clothing, leaving large patching in his cloak.

Kairi could feel tears forming as she saw the deep red patches where the substance had touched Axel's skin.

Sora quickly went through his pockets to find a couple of potions.

"These are all I have.." Sora admitted, shamefaced.

"Eh, don't sweat it. Not like you're the one who turned me into a tar baby." Axel said feebly, managing to sit up before asking, "Anyway, what's the plan moving forward?"

Sora turned to scanned their surroundings. Regardless of the smog surrounding them, he could tell the sun was now beginning to set.

"We should find somewhere to stay for now," Sora said. "It's getting dark."

A chill ran down his back at remembering the pure nothingness he had been through earlier, but shook the thought away. He wasn't going to let that horrible experience get to him.. Not now..

As he turned toward the horizon, he could see what looked like a large church. Sora, took another look. Didn't they see one earlier? The one in the distance looked almost pristine as if time had not effected it in any shape or form.

_'Strange..'_ he thought to himself.

He then turned to the others, who seemed to be waiting for him to continue.

"Sora?" asked Kairi.

"Over there," Sora replied, gesturing toward the building. "It's still intact, we could stay there for now."

"Reckon it's better than staying out here." Axel commented, throwing off the remaining tatters of his ruined coat. "I really liked that jacket too. Oh, well. At least the undershirt's intact."

They looked at him, surprised to see Axel was well toned with the black tank top and black pants. Kairi turned back to the cloak and carefully picked it up.

"We could always patch it," she said, holding it carefully.

"True, it'd be a shame to throw it away. Especially since it's a custom job." Axel commented, hoisting the jacket over his shoulder.

Sora nodded and after a few moments, they headed off toward the rather large and towering church in the distance with Axel and the others following behind him.

**Author's Note: I apologize for taking such a long time.. I will try to get more up soon..**


	4. Chapter 4

Part Three

As they made it to the building, Sora was shocked to find it had large solid oak doors. He reached to open it when he felt a sharp pain go through his head, causing him to hesitate.

However, after a few moments, he shoved the door open. Having expected the building to be empty, they were surprised to see there were.. People.. They were dressed in what seemed to be white and gold robes. As he looked at them, Sora could feel something unusual about the group of people around them.

As the doors opened and they beheld the strange people inside, the redhead took a good long look at them before saying, "Uuuuuuh...hello?"

The people had begun to gather around them, taking notice of the burns on Axel's skin. As one of them reached toward him, they suddenly pulled back as if struck.

"Young man.." the woman breathed out. "I sense a darkness!"

In almost an instant, the others began to speak over one another as they began to crowd around him.

"Evil has surrounded you!" said another.

"Guessing you mean tall, dark and nasty out there?" Axel asked in a slightly shaky tone. "Yeah, he got me pretty good. Some of his gunk seeped into my-woah!" He exclaimed as they took hold of him rather roughly, dragging him towards the front of the sanctuary.

"Hey!" Sora shouted. "Stop it!"

Sora reached out but froze as another of the group grabbed his arm.

"He must be cleansed." the man stated. "Those from the outside must be cleansed of evil."

The man then turned toward the crowd and went to join them as Axel was led up toward the altar in the middle of the room.

As Sora tried pushing through the crowd, he was stopped by a firm clasp on his shoulder by Riku.

"Calm down." He said in a firm tone. "Wait and see what they do before you do something rash. But be prepared to act if things go awry."

Sora looked at him before turning back toward Axel and the crowd of people.

"Uuuuh, you guys aren't gonna put a stake through my heart or anything, are you?" Axel asked worriedly as he was brought toward the altar.

Two of the people soon forced Axel to kneel in front of the alter.

"Gah, hey! Easy with the goods, sheesh!" Axel protested as they pushed him to his knees, hoping that whatever cure they had in mind was worth all this trouble.

The woman standing at the altar made the movements of a cross and after saying a few words, she lifted a large bowl filled with water. After saying a few more words, she proceeded to pour the bowl of water onto his head. As the water was poured over his head, he waited a moment...and still felt the same as before. Opening his eyes, he glanced at his still unhealed wound and looked back to the priestess with a cocked eyebrow as he asked, "So, is this a delayed reaction, or...?"

"We cleanse you of all evils, young man." One responded. "This is the first step to free you from the darkness in your heart."

"I...see." Axel stated, refraining from any biting commentary since he could feel the mild glare that Riku was giving him from the back. "Anyway, since I'm up here, any of you know anything about what's been going on outside? Town in ruins, shadowy monsters...?"

"A darkness has overtaken our town.. A horrible evil that has caused much pain." said one of the woman.

She then turned toward Sora, Riku, and Kairi.

"You are fortunate to have survived for as long as you have."

Sora took a step toward them.

"What exactly do you mean?" he asked.

"The evil outside.. It has claimed many lives." said the man. "Those who face it.. I fear do not live to see the dawn."

"We take refuge within our sanctuary in hopes it will never enter here."

"I see." Riku stated. "Would you happen to know when and where all this started?"

"The fear of corruption in this town has conjured them.. Now the fear of others had consumed much of our town."

"So, this creature feeds on fear?" asked Sora in surprise. "I guess that would make sense.."

"Hm...and what about that wound of his?" Riku asked, pointing the injuries that Axel obtained during their initial encounter with the entity. "Should we be worried about that?"

"They seem to be rather deep burns.. But with proper care, they will heal over time." a woman informed, having once been a nurse as evident to the Red Cross adorning her white blouse.

Sora turned to Axel once more.

"How are you feeling?"

"Eh, I'm doin' alright so far. Certainly appreciate the help, sorry if I was bein' weird about it before." Axel apologized with a smile to the woman, his expression turning serious as he stood up and cracked his knuckles. "Certainly can't let such good folk suffer any more than we already have. Ain't that right?"

Riku replied with a firm nod, turning to the woman as he said, "That's part of the reason why we're here in the first place, to help take care of problems like this. We want to help get rid of the evil that's been clouding your home, and we need to know where to start."

The woman smiled appreciatively and nodded.

"Many of the happenings had began while the miners of the town had broken through a hidden chamber beneath the town," she began to explain. "Since that time, the citizens have been strictly forbidden from entering the tunnels, for fear there may be other evil that will seal their fate."

"And where can we find this hidden chamber?" Riku asked.

They were shocked and taken aback by this question.  
"You would risk life to enter the forbidden tunnels?" one asked. "It is not safe there."

"We know. But vanquishing the darkness plaguing this world is the entire reason we're here." Riku replied, stretching out his hand and summoning his weapon in a flash of light before them. "I show you my keyblade as a symbol of courage and comradeship. We *will* vanquish this evil and free you all, or we'll die trying."

Axel nodded, summoning his own keyblade as a show of support. Sora and Kairi soon did the same, surprising the gathered people. The woman who had spoken soon stepped forward.

"If you wish to find the tunnels.. They can be found at the very edge of this town, within the mountainside." she replied. "But be warned.. You must tread lightly as it senses your greatest fears."

Riku nodded in understanding as he said to the others. "Let's go. We've got to put an end to this before those monsters find this world's heart and drag it into the darkness." He then turned towards the door to walk out, Axel following behind him.

As they left the building, they were met with the thick smog once more they headed off toward their destination.

**Author's Note: I'm so sorry for not updating very much, I've been extremely busy with work and other things so it has been a while since I had been able to work on much.. I will try to get more up soon..**


End file.
